Mark’s Score 8.4
You have to love a place that calls itself the “premier coffee shop” in Trappe, when it is the only coffee shop in Trappe. I guess, however overstating their case this may be, the claim is factually true. Being the only coffee shop in town, they could just phone in their work. You don’t have to try very hard to be number one when you are the only one. Though they can rest on their laurels, they don’t. This is not only the best coffee shop in Trappe, but it is one of the best coffee shops in the area.
Coffee Trappe is run by Ally Quatrucci, the wife of Mike Quatrucci who is the head chef at Momma Maria’s across the street (see my review on Momma Maria’s). Both properties are owned by local business dynamo, Tom Mitchell. Both properties are the corner stones of Mitchell’s single-handed attempt to revitalize downtown Trappe
I discovered Trappe well before the pandemic. Most people just pass it by on Rte 50, never appreciating that they are speeding by one of the more bucolic towns on the Eastern Shore. I like to explore, and I accidently stumbled into Trappe when I decided to take country roads into Oxford. The Coffee Trappe immediately caught my eye because it is located in one of those old vault-like bank buildings that were popular at the turn of the last century. It was just about lunch time so I decided to stop for lunch.
The Coffee Trappe serves breakfast including pastries, and lunch dishes. But what really captured my imagination is the excellent job they did in converting an old bank into a delightfully welcoming coffee shop. Vestages of the old bank are still there, the Tiffany chandeliers, the palladian windows, and the tin ceiling. The kitchen is located in the bank vault. To walk into the Coffee Trappe is to step back into 1920s rural America.
As for the food, it is a breakfast/sandwich shop. So, you aren’t going to get an excellent meal, like you would at Momma’s across the street. But it is a coffee shop, and they make a god coffee, so they at least pass the minimum test. I have never had breakfast there, but I have had lunch there on a number of occasions. I wouldn’t call their sandwiches memorable, but neither have I ever been disappointed by their food, and I have patronized them multiple times. So, they are good enough to keep me coming back. Sometimes a quick sandwich is exactly what the doctor ordered, and I much prefer places like Coffee Trappe to fast food joints. I also appreciate that they take the time to present their food on china, rather than wrapped in plastic and cardboard. To me presentation is important, it shows the restaurant cares.
In the end, if you want a coffee or a breakfast, or just a quick sandwich for lunch, Coffee Trappe, as they say, is the premier coffee shop in town.
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